Seth's Blog: The problem with positive thinking | Hacker News Reader

Seth's Blog: The problem with positive thinking

sethgodin.typepad.com

25 pointsqeek20 comments

This piece is surprisingly profound. Here is the key insight:

Negative thinking feels good.

I think this is exactly right.

A compounding factor is habit. Once you've being doing the same thing over and over, it feels good to keep doing it and uncomfortable not to.

Another reason why negative thinking feels good is that it's passive, and it's easier to be passive than active.

negative thinking feels good because it proves us right when things go wrong. it's easy to make things go wrong when you believe that'll happen. that dopamine hit when you're right feels damn good.

>Another reason why negative thinking feels good is that it's passive, and it's easier to be passive than active.

negative thinking absolves one of responsibility. you can think "this plan won't work, so i'm gonna sit back and watch it fail" and enjoy being a critic instead of a participant.

Negative thinking feels bad. Maybe he's never actually experienced it. A better explanation is needed.

The statements "negative thinking feels bad" and "negative thinking feels good" are not contradictory at all, though they may appear so. The way in which it feels bad is obvious, but the way in which it feels good is not, and takes self-observation and honesty to detect. The effort is well worth it, though, because it provides a way out of the conundrum. If I'm only aware of how they feel bad, then negative thoughts are something that happens to me; but once I become aware that they also feel good, I see them as something that I'm doing (or at least acceding to), and I can withdraw that participation.

My experience has been that one has to persist with this concept until the initial indignation ("how dare you say that I'm enjoying this pain") dies down. Then a whole new array of psychological options opens up. It's fascinating. But challenging.

Still the people who never do that are, in honesty, feeling bad not good.

I hypothesize the reason humans perform worse after failing a hard question versus passing an easy question is that by keeping yourself down, you avoid getting into trouble claiming a higher status in the tribe than you can pull off if it comes to a confrontation. But you feel bad so that you keep looking for an opportunity to claim the higher status/more resources position. Perhaps explaining this (if it is true) and that this doesn't confer any benefit in our current environment would be just as effective.

In regards to running a startup I have found that analyzing the worst case scenario (negative thinking) has helped shape smart decisions a lot more than positive thinking. I find that this is especially true with entrepreneurs where positive thinking has frequently been the downfall of many great companies (ie. build products -> make free -> ??? -> make money)

You're not talking about the same thing. It's entirely possible to analyze worst-case scenarios without feeling overwhelmed, miserable, or doomed. Indeed the analysis will be better that way.

I never said negative thinking is overwhelming. I think it's exactly the opposite. Once you can come to terms with your worst-case scenario (ie. quitting and getting a job again when it fails), it frees a lot of burden and helps you work harder.

There is no issue here, merely semantic confusion: we're using the phrase "negative thinking" to mean different things.

Think of it this way: planning for negative scenarios is generally implies that you're willing to deal with them. To be willing to deal with them, you probably think that you're capable of dealing with them.

Even though dealing with negative situations isn't kittens-and-puppies happy, it is solidly optimistic. That's the kind of positive thinking that helps you.

Good summary.

Any one have links to the evidence mentioned for the effect of positive thinking on performance?

Most of the research on this comes from the field of educational psychology. The specific term that you would search is 'self-efficacy'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-efficacy

Also "Performance Psychology" which as its origin in sports.

Thanks!

This is a great post and should almost be a sticky here on Hacker News. I've been involved in some performance oriented activities both in school, business, sports and the military. I have never seen anyone succeed by focusing on the problems.

When focusing on problems or prematurely on the solution, you'll get anxious and start seeing problems everywhere. The planning process will get more important then the actual implementation and you'll focus on the smallest problems. Even things that will go away by themselves.

Then without knowing it you'll be one of those people who asks "why?" instead of "how?". And I, like most, don't want to be around a person like that.

What is "positive thinking"?

it is thinking positive.

The term is just so damned vague. If I buy a stock and think the price will go down, is that "negative thinking"? If I'm miserable where I work, would it be "positive thinking" to tell myself that I like it there?

My current understanding is that "positive thinking" is a lot like "having an open mind": social gamesmanship where you say "I disagree with you" but in a way designed to make the other person look bad, at least in the eyes of people who don't both to find out what the words are supposed to mean.

Positive thinking is a good start but positive acting is even better. For instance it works perfect in raising children. See Triple P http://www.gov.mb.ca/triplep/

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